Method of forming a buried aperture nitride light emitting device

ABSTRACT

A method of forming a buried aperture in a nitride light emitting device is described. The method involves forming an aperture layer, typically an amorphous or polycrystalline material over an active layer that includes a nitride material. The aperture layer material typically also includes nitride. The aperture layer is etched to create an aperture which is then filled with a conducting material by epitaxial regrowth. The amorphous layer is crystallized forming an electrically resistive material during or before regrowth. The conducting aperture in the electrically resistive material is well suited for directing current into a light emitting region of the active layer.

BACKGROUND

GaAs and InP optoelectronic devices, including vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and high performance diodes, often use a more electrically conducting “aperture” in a nonconducting layer to direct electrical current into a central light-emitting region or “active” region. In most of these GaAs and InP systems, aperture materials are also selected to have a higher refractive index than the nonconducting layer material, thereby enabling the aperture to also confine the generated optical fields. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,749 entitled “Method and Structure for Eliminating Polarization Instability in Laterally Oxidized VCSELs” by Chua et al. which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In some “anti-resonant” structures, the refractive index of the aperture is designed to have a lower value than surrounding areas to controllably induce losses to higher order modes.

Various methods are available for forming the conducting aperture. In one method, a chemical etch to form a pattern followed by a regrowth of the aperture material in the patterned layer openings is used to form the aperture. Such a procedure is described in D. Zhou and L. J. Mawst, Appl. Phys. Lett., v. 76 (13), 2000, pp. 1659-1661_which is hereby incorporated by reference. Alternate methods of forming a conducting aperture in an AlGaAs layer include converting select non-aperture regions of the AlGaAs layer into an insulating oxide through selective wet thermal oxidation. The oxidized material also has a lower refractive index than the unoxidized material.

Although conducting apertures and/or light guiding apertures would benefit an indium aluminum gallium nitride (InAlGaN) light emitting device, a suitable means for forming such apertures has not been available. Chemical etching of nitride heterostructures followed by subsequent regrowth in patterned layer openings has proved difficult because InAlGaN crystalline alloys are very stable and are therefore resistant to chemical attack. Oxidation techniques have also been difficult to implement because nitride based materials are not easily oxidized.

Thus a method of forming apertures that channel current and/or confine optically generated fields in a nitride based light emitting structure is needed.

SUMMARY

A method of forming a current directing aperture in a nitride optoelectronic device is described. In the method, an aperture layer including nitride is deposited over a crystalline active layer that also includes nitride. The deposition typically forms an amorphous or polycrystalline aperture layer. The deposition of the aperture layer occurs at a low temperature below 800 degrees centigrade. Apertures are etched into the aperture layer. Subsequently, a crystalline heterostructure layer that also includes nitride is regrown over the aperture layer, the crystalline heterostructure layer to produce a buried aperture that can be used to direct light or current.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a VCSEL array incorporating buried apertures.

FIG. 2 shows an intermediate structure used in forming a light emitting optoelectronic device, the intermediate structure including a low temperature amorphous aperture layer deposited over a nitride active layer.

FIG. 3 shows a side cross sectional view of an intermediate structure that used in fabricating a VCSEL, the intermediate structure including an aperture etched into an aperture layer.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of one embodiment of an aperture layer.

FIG. 5 shows a side cross sectional view of a crystalline heterostructure that has been regrown over a patterned aperture layer.

FIG. 6 shows a side cross sectional view of one embodiment of a VCSEL with a buried aperture.

FIG. 7 shows a top view of a nitride VCSEL with a buried aperture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A structure including conducting apertures to channel current and/or confine optically generated fields in a nitride light emitting device and a method of forming the structure is described. The method involves forming and subsequently etching openings into a thin amorphous InAlGaN layer, after which the InAlGaN layer is crystallized.

FIG. 1 shows a VCSEL array incorporating buried apertures 106 in an aperture layer 104. Electrodes 108 provide current 112 that flow through top mirror layer 116. Apertures 106 direct current into active regions of active region layer 120. The current generates light in the active region. Top mirror layer 116 and bottom mirror layer 124 together form a laser cavity. Typically, the top mirror layer and the bottom mirror layer are distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) that confine light in the active region to build up stimulated emissions. Emitted light 128 is output through apertures 106. As used herein, the term “apertures” refers to an “opening” that may or may not be filled with a material. However, when filled the characteristics of the aperture material is such that the electrical conductivity is lower than the surrounding material and/or the optical transmissivity is lower than the surrounding material.

In a traditional GaAs optoelectronic light outputting device, the aperture may be formed by selective wet thermal oxidation of an AlGaAs aperture layer similar to the aperture layer 104. In one fabrication technique, an oxidizing agent enters gaps 132 between adjacent VCSELs in the VCSEL array. The oxidizing agent gradually oxidizes aperture layer 104 from the gap 132 perimeter towards the areas that will form apertures 106. Oxidation is terminated before the region to form apertures 106 is oxidized. When aperture layer 104 is AlGaAs, an oxidized AlGaAs bordering an unoxidized AlGaAs aperture results. The aperture's unoxidized AlGaAs has a higher refractive index then the surrounding oxidized AlGaAs thereby providing optical guiding of emitted light. The oxidized AlGaAs also has a lower electrical resistivity than the surrounding AlGaAs thereby directing current through the aperture and the device active region. The described procedure for forming an aperture in an AlGaAs layer is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,749 by Chua et al. which is hereby incorporated by reference.

In the present invention, the VCSEL structure shown in FIG. 1 as well as analogous light emitting structures may be fabricated with an InAlGaN aperture layer. In such a device, the InAlGaN aperture layer corresponds to aperture layer 104. FIGS. 2-5 show examples of the steps used to form such a structure.

FIG. 2 shows an AlGaN DBR mirror layer 204 formed over a sapphire heterostructure substrate 208. DBR mirror layers are commonly employed in resonant cavity devices such as lasers. AlGaN DBR mirrors are typically fabricated using alternating pairs of Al_(p)Ga_(1-p)N/Al_(q)Ga_(1-q)N layers. Mirror layer growth is controlled such that alternating tensile and compressive strains achieve a high index of refraction contrast between alternating layers to produce a highly reflective structure at the wavelength of light produced by the active region. Such mirror formation is described in various references including U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,314 which is hereby incorporated by reference.

An InAlGaN active layer 212 is grown, usually epitaxially using MOCVD, over mirror layer 204. The amount of In and Al relative to Ga is chosen based on the design of the specific structure and on the desired emission wavelength. Such growth techniques are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,696 by Bour et al entitled “AlGAInN Pendeoepitaxy LED and Laser Diode Structures for Pure Blue or Green Emission” which is hereby incorporated by reference. After active layer 212 formation, an amorphous aperture layer 216 is deposited at low temperatures, typically around 550 degrees Centigrade, (although the temperatures typically range from 400 to 800 degrees centigrade) over active layer 212. A lower approximate limit of 400 degrees occurs because below that temperature, it becomes difficult to crack ammonia which is often used as a nitrogen source for nitride films. However, using a catalyst or other methods to crack ammonia at a lower temperature, or using a different source of nitrogen altogether can enable deposition of nitride films at much lower temperatures, including room temperature. Above approximately 800 degrees centigrade, the amorphous material usually crystallizes. Typically the amorphous aperture layer is AlN, although GaN and other alloys of In_(a)Al_(b)Ga_(1-a-b)N may also be used. The aperture layer material is preferably a nitride material that may be deposited at low temperatures in amorphous form and subsequently crystallized over the active layer 212.

Amorphous aperture layer 216 is usually thin, typically between 5 and 100 nm thick with an example thickness on the order of 20 nm. Keeping the amorphous aperture layer thin prevents cracking during subsequent growths. The heterostructure underlying the amorphous aperture layer is typically a crystalline In_(x)Al_(y)Ga_(1-x-y)N layer grown at temperatures ranging from 700 degrees to 1200 degrees centigrade where x and y ranges between 0 and 1 depending on the desired device characteristics.

After thin amorphous aperture layer 216 formation, the wafer is cooled, typically to a temperature below 100 degrees centigrade, more typically to room temperature and removed from the growth reactor for subsequent patterning and etching. Standard photolithographic techniques may be used to pattern the aperture layer 216. In particular, the aperture layer may be coated with a photoresist, masked and exposed to UV radiation that crosslinks unmasked regions of the photoresist. The unmasked regions of the photoresist are removed creating openings in the photoresist. The patterned openings allow an etchant to etch corresponding apertures into the amorphous aperture layer.

Although most of the specification describes a MOCVD-grown amorphous aperture layer 216, in an alternate embodiment, the aperture layer can also be deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD). In the case of PVD, the deposition temperature can be much lower, and the layer can be deposited in polycrystalline form. As in the case of an amorphous aperture layer, and unlike a single crystal aperture layer, the polycrystalline aperture layer can be patterned and etched as described to form the apertures followed by a subsequent regrowth of material. As used herein, “single crystal” aperture layer means an aperture layer where the crystal lattice order of the aperture layer is unbroken over an extended area. “Non-single crystalline material” as used herein is broadly defined to include any material that is not a single crystal, including amorphous materials and poly-crystalline materials.

FIG. 3 shows a side view and FIG. 4 shows a top view of an example aperture 304 formed in amorphous aperture layer 308. Although FIG. 4 shows a circular aperture opening, the aperture opening may be a variety of shapes including but not limited to rectangular and triangular shapes. The aperture shape and area can define the active region and light guiding properties of the aperture, thus the aperture may determine the beam profile output from the optoelectronic device. Typically, aperture areas range between 4 and 40,000 μm².

Various method may be used to form or etch the aperture opening. One method of forming the aperture opening uses chemicals such as phosphoric acid to wet etch an amorphous AlN aperture layer. Because the chemicals do not attack crystalline nitride structures, the underlying crystalline nitride layer 304 forms a natural etch stop. In one embodiment, the crystalline nitride layer 312 that forms the etch stop is the active layer (light emitting layer) of the optoelectronic device (such as active layer 212). Although wet chemical etching offers improved selectivity and reduced contamination potential, dry etching techniques may also be used to create aperture 304.

After etching, FIG. 5 shows additional InAlGaN heterostructure layers 504 regrown on the patterned surface. Regrowth typically occurs in a MOCVD reactor. The high temperatures, typically between 700 and 1200 degrees centigrade, used in regrowing InAlGaN layers 504 is typically sufficient to automatically crystallize an AlN amorphous aperture layer. Although crystallizing the amorphous aperture layer is not necessary crystallizing the amorphous aperture layer after patterning ensures growth of high quality films throughout the wafer area, not just at the aperture region, during subsequent growths. Crystallization of the amorphous aperture layer can typically be accomplished in-situ during the regrowth process. However, when the temperature is insufficient to crystallize amorphous aperture layer 308 materials, an anneal step with a temperature of over a thousand degrees (typically around 1025 degrees centigrade) may be included in the MOCVD growth recipe prior to flowing metal organics. A similar technique for growing a high quality nitride heterostructure on a sapphire substrate using low temperature AlN nucleation layers that are annealed prior to growing additional InAlGaN epitaxial layers is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,537,513 entitled “Semiconductor Substrate and Method for Making the Same” by Amano et al. which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Regrowth layers 504 which include the material filling aperture region 516 are typically epitaxially grown and doped p-type to make the regrown layers electrically conductive. The now crystalline material of aperture material layer 308 (typically AlN) surrounding the aperture is electrically resistive. Thus filled aperture region 516 serves as an aperture that funnels injected current into an active region in active layer 312. Because in one embodiment, AlN has a higher refractive index than the surrounding InAlGaN material filling aperture region 516, the aperture also guides and confines generated light within the aperture region. In one embodiment, the regrown InAlGaN heterostructure layer 504 also serves as a current spreading layer that spreads current from a current source, typically metal contacts formed over heterostructure layer 504.

FIG. 6 shows a cross sectional view and FIG. 7 shows a top view of one embodiment of using the structure of FIG. 5 in a resonant cavity light-emitting device. In FIG. 6, a metal contact 604 is formed over current spreading layer 504. In the illustrated embodiment, metal contact 604 is an annular p-metal contact that provides electrical current 612. Aperture region 516 channels current 612 into the nitride containing active regions of active layer 212 where electrons and holes recombine to generate emitted photons. The current travels through mirror layer 316 to an n contact. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the p and n contacts are formed on the same side of the wafer. This may be done by etching mesas and forming one electrode, typically the p-contact 604 in an upper portion of the mesa and another electrode, typically the n-contact 620 laterally adjacent to a bottom portion of the mesa as shown. In an alternate embodiment, the n contact may be formed between the mirror layer 316 and the sapphire substrate 320 using a laser lift off process as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,455,340 entitled “Method Of Fabricating GaN Semiconductor Structures Using Laser-Assisted Epitaxial Lift-Off” by Chua et al. and hereby incorporated by reference.

In FIG. 6, a top set of mirrors 616 are formed over the current spreading layer (also called regrowth layer) 504 and the metal contact 604. In one embodiment, the top mirror set are alternating layers of quarter wave thick distributed Bragg reflectors which may be formed using dielectric materials deposited by electron beam evaporation. An example material for forming mirror layer 616 includes silicon oxide. Upper mirror layer 616 and lower mirror layer 204 together form a Fabry-Perot cavity for a resonant cavity light-emitting diode. If the reflectivity of the mirrors is sufficiently high, the device can operate as a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The cavity enhances light emission at the resonant mode.

FIG. 7 shows a top view of the example light emitting device. FIG. 7 shows a p-metal routing wire 704 that connects a p metal contact 708 to a source of electrical current (not shown). An insulating passivation layer such as SiO₂ or Si₃N₄ separates the wire from the wafer surface.

Current flows along the routing wire to the p metal contact. The current spreading layer distributes electrical current laterally from the annular metal contact to the central aperture region in the aperture layer. Each aperture, such as buried aperture 712, directs current into an active region of the active layer where the current exits the device via a second contact. Dielectric DBR mirrors may be evaporated over a large area to cover many devices at once. The final resulting devices may emit light from a top surface or from a bottom surface depending on the intended application. Bottom emitting devices provide for relatively simple fabrication because it is easier to form a highly reflective e-beam evaporated top dielectric mirror than a highly reflective MOCVD grown bottom epitaxial mirror. When sufficient low optical losses are achieved, the resonant cavity device performs as a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser.

The preceding description includes a number of details that are provided to facilitate understanding of the invention, and should not be interpreted to thus limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention should be defined by the claims, as originally presented and as they may be amended, encompass variations, alternatives, modifications, improvements, equivalents, and substantial equivalents of the embodiments and teachings disclosed herein, including those that are presently unforeseen or unappreciated, and that, for example, may arise from applicants/patentees and others. 

1. A method of forming a current directing aperture in a nitride optoelectronic vertical surface-emitting device comprising: fabricating a crystalline active layer to emit light, the active layer to include nitride; depositing an aperture layer over the active layer, the deposition occurring at a temperature below approximately 800 degrees centigrade such that the aperture layer does not initially form a single crystal layer; etching the aperture layer to form cylindrical aperture region, fully surrounded at its lateral extent by material forming the aperture layer; and, regrowing a crystalline heterostructure layer that includes nitride over the aperture layer and within the cylindrical aperture region to produce a buried aperture that directs current.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the aperture layer deposited forms an amorphous aperture layer.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the regrowing of the crystalline heterostructure crystallizes the amorphous aperture layer.
 4. The method of claim 2 further comprising the operation of annealing the amorphous aperture layer at a temperature in excess of 700 degrees centigrade such that the amorphous aperture layer forms a single crystal aperture layer.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the active layer serves as an etch stop during the etching of the aperture layer.
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the operation of doping the regrown crystalline heterostructure such that the conductivity of the crystallized amorphous aperture layer is lower than the conductivity of the regrown crystalline heterostructure material.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the aperture layer is formed from aluminum nitride.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the crystalline active layer is formed from an alloy selected from a group consisting of indium, aluminum, gallium, nitrogen and the crystalline heterostructure layer is also an alloy selected from a group consisting of indium, aluminum, gallium, nitrogen.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the deposited aperture layer forms a polycrystalline aperture layer.
 10. The method of claim 1 further comprising: forming a contact above the regrown crystalline heterostructure, the contact to provide current such that the regrown crystalline heterostructure serves as a current spreading layer.
 11. The method of claim 1 further comprising: forming a set of mirrors above the crystalline active layer and a second set of mirrors below the crystalline active layer such that the nitride optoelectronic device forms a resonant-cavity light-emitting device.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein the aperture layer is deposited by physical vapor deposition. 